Tag: Europa

• Dr. David L Clements, a top astrophysicist at Imperial University (Imperial College London) as recently published a paper claiming that alien life will be discovered within 20 years. “…[N]ew observational insights and other developments mean that signs of life elsewhere might realistically be uncovered in the next decade or two,” says Clements.

• In his study, Dr. Clements discussed the Fermi Paradox, saying that an alien space-faring civilization, “…should thus already be here, and yet they are not.” “This can be used as an argument against the existence of intelligent extraterrestrials, but our own existence is proof that intelligent life can and does arise in the Galaxy. This is the central puzzle of the Fermi Paradox.”

• Dr. Clements’ paper goes on to suggest that life is likely to be found in oceans locked beneath the frozen surface of moons or planets. In our own solar system, one of the most likely homes for alien life is Europa, a moon of Jupiter which is believed to be hiding a gigantic body of water beneath its icy crust. “We are left with the rather chilling prospect that the galaxy may be filled with life, but that any intelligence within it is locked away beneath impenetrable ice barriers, unable to communicate with, or even comprehend the existence of, the universe outside,” says Dr. Clements.

• [Editor’s Note] Perhaps the true error is in the assumption that alien beings should already be here, “yet they are not”. Oh, they’re here alright, and in a variety and numbers that will astound the intentionally uninformed citizens of planet Earth. They will reveal themselves when it serves their purpose. The question is, is the reason that they are here one that is negative or positive for the human race?

In a newly published paper, one of the nation’s top astrophysicists has claimed we will discover traces of alien life within 20 years. Dr David L Clements of Imperial University said that ‘detecting signs of life elsewhere has been so technically challenging as to seem almost impossible’ until very recently. ‘However, new observational insights and other developments mean that signs of life elsewhere might realistically be uncovered in the next decade or two,’ he continued.

Dr. David L Clements

In his study, Dr Clements discussed the Fermi Paradox, which is the contradiction between the high probability of life existing in the universe and the fact we haven’t managed to detect it. Theoretically, a ‘space-faring civilisation’ should be able to visit every single star in the galaxy in a timescale of between 50 and 100 million years – even if they travelled at velocities which were slower than the speed of light. ‘Aliens should thus already be here, and yet they are not,’ Dr Clements added. ‘This can be used as an argument against the existence of intelligent extraterrestrials, but our own existence is proof that intelligent life can and does arise in the Galaxy. ‘This is the central puzzle of the Fermi Paradox.’

His paper goes on to suggest that life is likely to be found in oceans locked beneath the frozen surface of moons or planets – which could have big implications for the development of a civilisation. In our own solar system, one of the most likely homes for alien life is Europa, a moon of Jupiter which is believed to be hiding a gigantic body of water beneath its icy crust. ‘We are left with the rather chilling prospect that the galaxy may be filled with life, but that any intelligence within it is locked away beneath impenetrable ice barriers, unable to communicate with, or even comprehend the existence of, the universe outside,’ the paper continued. ‘We know that species that live in water can evolve to a high level of intelligence – dolphins and octopuses are good examples. ‘However, A liquid environment may be a limiting factor in the development of technology.’

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. ExoNews.org distributes this material for the purpose of news reporting, educational research, comment and criticism, constituting Fair Use under 17 U.S.C § 107. Please contact the Editor at ExoNews with any copyright issue.

• Jupiter’s moon Europa is often held up as one of the most promising places to discover extraterrestrial life. It is relatively near and has huge seas of liquid water under its surface, which could provide a home to those aliens. However, in a new research paper, Dr Daniel Hobley, from Cardiff University’s School of Earth and Ocean Sciences describes how treacherous the surface of Europa is for landing spacecraft or probes.

• “The presence of sharp, blade-like structures towering to almost 15 metres high would make any potential landing mission to Europa extremely precarious. We hope that studies like ours will help the engineers to develop innovative ways of delivering landers safely on Europa’s surface so that we can find out even more about this fascinating place, and potentially look for signs of extra-terrestrial life,” said Dr Hobley.

• These massive shards of ices, or “penitentes”, are formed through a process known as sublimation. That turns ice into water vapor without melting into a liquid between the two, and leaves behind those blade-like formations that point right up into the sky. Europa has the right thermal conditions for this sublimation to occur, and the sun always shines at the same angle towards the surface. Penitentes between one and five metres tall do grow on Earth, but are restricted to extreme areas such as the Andes Mountains.

Towering blades of ice could get in the way of our search for alien life, scientists have warned.
Jupiter’s moon Europa is often held up as one of the most promising places to discover extraterrestrials. It is relatively near and has huge seas of liquid water under its surface, which could provide a home to those aliens.

Dr Daniel Hobley

Scientists hope to eventually land a spacecraft on that icy crust and drill down beneath it to see whatever is lurking in the oceans below.

But on that same alien surface are vast shards and daggers of snow that could destroy any craft that attempted to land there, scientists have warn. Reaching almost 15 metres tall, the blades of sharp ice could be a fatal barrier to any attempt to meet that extra-terrestrial life.

Any potential landing mission would have to navigate those “penitentes” before it could drop onto the surface.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. ExoNews.org distributes this material for the purpose of news reporting, educational research, comment and criticism, constituting Fair Use under 17 U.S.C § 107. Please contact the Editor at ExoNews with any copyright issue.

• A recent discovery of tectonic activity on Jupiter’s moon, Europa, has Brown University assistant professor, Brandon Johnson, imagining whether this could stir up the pot enough to cultivate a life form or two there.

• Where the Earth’s tectonic plate shift around, or “subduct”, due to the molten mantle pushing upwards, it is speculated that the changes in permeation of salt in the waters and ice of Europa may cause ice sheets to subduct. And with this subduction, nutrients at the surface could be shoved down to provide nourishment for creatures under the moon’s oceans.

• Says Johnson, “Our work… implies that the plates will sink all the way to Europa’s subsurface ocean. This is important because material from the surface of Europa could act as food for life that may exist in Europa’s ocean.”

It’s a term that’s used too frequently and too lightly, but in this case it seems more than appropriate: “This could change everything.” ‘This’ is the discovery of tectonic plate movement on Jupiter’s moon, Europa. Those plates rubbing together under the moon’s frozen surface could move nutrients from the ice to the ocean believed to be beneath it, providing food to any life forms floating around down there. If life can exist deep underneath Antarctica, why not on Europa?

How do you get from plates moving to life existing? Good question. It starts at Brown University in Rhode Island where Brandon Johnson, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, was trying to figure out how tectonic plates could move without heat. That’s the key ingredient here on Earth where the cold dense plates slide underneath each other into the underlying hot mantle in a process known as subduction. Subduction zones on Earth have high rates of earthquakes and volcanoes that are both products and propagators of the process. The energy it created and released may have caused the chemical reactions that sparked life as well as the movements that stirred the waters and fed it nutrients.

But how can this work on frozen celestial bodies with no hot mantle? Johnson and his colleagues did what scientists do … created a model to figure out what would make ice plates move in the same way as rock plates. The simulations found that the secret ingredient was … pixie dust! Just kidding … it was salt. As salt melts it, an ice plate becomes less dense, causing it to rise so that a colder, more dense ice plate can slide under it. It then hits the warmer liquid in the ocean underneath the surface, melts to be come less dense and rises up again, causing further subduction.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. ExoNews.org distributes this material for the purpose of news reporting, educational research, comment and criticism, constituting Fair Use under 17 U.S.C § 107. Please contact the Editor at ExoNews with any copyright issue.